by Anna Logan
He knew the rest of the Wardens were waiting for him to declare a decision, even if they probably already knew what it was. “We go get the wards.”
Everyone nodded, they mounted, and set their celiths west. Until they knew what was going on with the wards, they couldn’t make any other plans. They had no idea what might have gone wrong, or how badly, for Talea and Wylan’s teams. They didn’t know how many Elikwai were still alive, or even for sure whether or not the San Quawr army was still in tact and not massacred after they reached Zentyren soil.
It seemed their plans were all unraveling, and he doubted it would be easy to piece them back together. No matter. All he cared about for now, was making sure Talea was okay.
19
Final Storm
W HERE are You?
Talea lifted eyes that stung with weariness to the sky above. It was heavy, gray, and silent. There was no answer from heaven, or from the mysterious and supposed deity she pleaded to. There never had been. Never will be. He’d whispered prophetic nonsense into Grrake and Mahzin’s ears, two decades ago. That had brought her to where she was now. And now? Now, and in all the time since, no one, as far as she could tell, had heard from Narone.
They were on their own.
And she was supposed to lead them.
Ember’s hooves hit a patch of ice. As exhausted as she was, the mare stumbled and lurched. Talea barely had the time and energy to throw herself out of the saddle before Ember would have fallen and crushed her leg. She crawled back to where the celith lay, wiping her running nose and giving Ember’s neck a pat. “Come on, girl. Come on. We can’t stop yet.”
Only when Talea had gotten to her feet and began tugging on the reins did Ember reluctantly stand. The celiths needed a break. So did their riders. Only one of them could have it, and only partially… “Let’s all walk for a bit.”
Her companions, three of the Eight, and the captain of the Tarragon, feebly crawled out of saddles and feebly began walking beside their mounts, heads down, shoulders hunched. It had been two days since any of them had had a full meal. Three days since they’d gotten more than a few hours of sleep at once. And five days since the nightmare had begun. Zoper had been with them for only two days before the “brute force” he’d warned them of had struck. An army of at least four thousand Kaydorians and half the Tarragon, all splitting and grouping as necessary while they scoured every inch of ground, hunting for the five weakened adversaries that were their prey. She couldn’t remember how many battles there had been in that time. Five? Six? It felt like a dozen. Stopping and resting wasn’t an option. Every time they tried, the Kaydorians would catch up. So they kept moving...ever under the threat of running into a different group of opponents...and now, with the steadily approaching, unavoidable fate of their celiths’ strength finally wearing out.
She didn’t know if her friends held onto more hope than she did. Most of the time, she didn’t feel as though she were holding onto anything...she was just surviving. For as long as she could. Not because she thought she would in the end, or because she had a goal to reach, or because she clung to any hope...she just had to. So she would survive for as long as she could. Even if she knew it wasn’t much longer.
Zoper, maybe, was more optimistic. They’d abandoned their mistrust of him. Perhaps it was logical—if he’d stuck with them this far, he must have been genuine. Or perhaps it was simple necessity. There wasn’t the time or the energy to spend on wariness. So he had become one of the group. And she was grateful—other than Rikky, he was the strongest among them. When she and Terindi and even Skyve couldn’t find the strength to get in the saddle, it was Zoper and Rikky that lifted them up. Through it all Zoper was in better spirits than the rest of them...although not without moments of melancholy. Or even downright anguish, sometimes, when he allowed himself to worry about his siblings.
Terindi, perhaps, was taking it the worst. Talea had never seen her cry, or demonstrate her emotions conspicuously in other ways...until now. The few times Talea had tried to speak to her, all she’d been able to talk about was her family. Terindi was close to her siblings and her mother, and apparently that relationship, the possibility of never seeing them again, was the one thing that could shake her steady and enduring nature.
Skyve...Skyve worried her even more. Not because of any emotion he showed—rather because he didn’t. He had stopped talking about their situation, about plans and possibilities, two days ago. Now he was silent. He kept surviving, just like the rest of them, he would answer a question or voice a need...but that was it. And she knew that meant he thought they weren’t going to make it.
Finally, Rikky. She wondered how much worse she’d be if it weren’t for him. No matter how tired or miserable or hopeless...he always had a smile for her. He would still call her “Lea” and kiss her cheek. There were problems, like his irritability with everyone else, his lack of understanding of more emotional matters, or his assertive possessiveness. But in the face of the much bigger problems they had to deal with, she didn’t have it in her to care about those things.
He had slowed down to walk beside her, leading his gelding. The animal had been a tall, muscular creature only a week ago. Now, his head drooped, his ribs showed, and he somehow looked smaller. Rikky took her hand, lifting it briefly to his lips. She could barely feel it, her hands and feet were perpetually frozen stiff. “Are you okay?”
Why nod? Why answer? She just moved closer to walk with her head against his shoulder, his arm around her.
“Hey, up here!” She hadn’t noticed that Zoper had disappeared, until she heard his voice and couldn’t find its source. His head popped out from behind a large rock formation to their left. “A cave.”
She stared at him. A cave. So what?
Unphased by their lack of comprehension, he went to Terindi, taking her hands in his to warm them. “We need to rest. It’s well hidden. Most likely, anyone following us will wander right past it.”
Rest. Yes, they did need to rest...though sometimes, it seemed irrelevant. Why bother? They’d be dead soon and then they’d have their fill of rest. Still, she nodded, and they followed Zoper. The opening was a mere crevice, somewhat concealed by underbrush. Inside it was a surprisingly large cave, at least fifteen square feet. She left Ember loose outside and let Rikky guide her to a wall and make her sit down next to Terindi. Rikky and Zoper, with limited help from Skyve, left the celiths to graze on any grass they could find, and brought in their gear. After that, Skyve started stumbling like he was dizzy. Zoper made him stay with her and Terindi while he and Rikky went back outside.
They returned after a few minutes with armfuls of wood. “It’s all wet.” Rikky dropped his load on the ground. The last snowfall had only recently melted, leaving the timber damp. “I don’t think—”
“That’s what this is for.” Zoper knelt by the wood, producing a couple handfuls of dry leaves and twigs. He found some matches from his pack, gathered the kindling, and after a couple tries, had a small fire burning.
Talea scooted closer for the heat, dragging Terindi with her.
“The smoke.” Skyve didn’t bother moving closer, slumped against the cave wall. “It will either fill the cave and suffocate us, or filter out and be visible to the Kaydorians. Boil some water from the creek, then put it out.”
Rikky sucked in a breath, probably building up the motivation to move again, before he left the cave with one of their pots, and came back with it full of icy water from the nearby creek. He and Zoper propped it over the fire and boiled it—the best purification they could manage, under the circumstances. Zoper distributed it among their canteens, carrying Terindi’s to her.
She took it from him, took a sip, then let her head fall against her knees again.
“Come on, you need to drink.” He sat down next to her, putting his arm around her shoulders and the canteen back in her hands. “Please?”
At some point, Zoper had become Terindi’s caregiver. Talea suspected he was attracted to
her, and that Terindi had at least come to trust him, even if she wasn’t interested otherwise. Really, what did those things matter. Talea was just glad that her friend had someone looking out for her, the way she had Rikky.
Terindi nodded wearily and drank a few more gulps.
They all drank as much as they could. Rikky refilled their canteens then put out the fire. A chill prickled her skin. He cleared out the remaining wood, then managed to coax their celiths into the cave. They barely fit and weren’t happy with the arrangement, but outside they could be spotted too easily.
There wasn’t any food to eat, they had run out yesterday. All there was to do was find any ounce of warmth they could, and try to sleep. Skyve and Zoper sat on either side of Terindi. Rikky came to Talea. There had been a time when she wouldn’t dream of such a situation, when it would have been scandalous and unbearably awkward. She could hardly imagine that time, though it probably hadn’t been so long ago. Now she crawled into his lap, snuggling up as close as she could, for both their sakes. They kept their canteens wedged between them to prevent the water from freezing, and curled their arms and legs in to conserve as much heat as possible. As comfortable and warm as she was going to get, Talea rested her head on his chest.
Everything fell silent.
She could almost feel the temperature dropping, degree by degree. The air was wet and biting. Most of her was on Rikky, not the ground, but anywhere her body touched the stone was seeped of warmth. Just barely, she could hear the others breathing. She strained to hear it, that soft, insignificant sound...telling her they were all there, they were all okay. Rikky’s chest rose and fell steadily beneath her as he drifted off. Peace, a sort of distant, physical peace that was of the body and brain, not the mind and heart, eased her into sleep.
“I’m not here.” Yhkon’s voice echoed. He was bleeding...Talea rushed to his side. But as she reached for his hand, he disappeared. He was behind her now, ten feet away. With him was Wylan, barely conscious and groaning in pain. She got up, she tried to go to them...her knees buckled. A reptilian tail covered in scales wrapped around her, immobilizing her. The dragon bared teeth that dripped with blood. When she looked, Yhkon and Wylan were gone. She caught a glimpse of Rikky, Terindi, and Skyve, all being whisked away by another dragon. Then it was just her, alone, facing enormous glowing eyes.
Talea opened her eyes. Other than the steam from her own rapid breaths, she couldn’t see anything. It was black. A rustle to her right, a snorting exhale.
Celiths.
She swallowed, forcibly relaxing her tense muscles. Dimly, she could make out the celiths, only when they moved.
Just as she started to feel drowsy again, Rikky moved. A twitch. Then he was shaking his head, his breathing was hard and fast, deafening in the stillness. She reached up, feeling until she found his cheek, and tapped gently. He was mumbling, saying “no” over and over again. She nudged him harder. “Rikky!”
He jerked awake and she could see the reflection in his wide eyes. His whole body was trembling, damp with sweat.
Talea stared at him, as much of him as she could see. She had nightmares. Terindi and Skyve had nightmares...but Rikky never did.
“Lea?” His voice was hoarse. Frightened.
“I’m here.” She brushed her thumb against his cheek. Rikky was never frightened. “It was just a dream.”
“No.” His arms tightened around her, to the point that it was uncomfortable, but she didn’t dare object in any way. “It’s not a dream. We’re not...we’re not going to make it, are we?”
An icy chill pinched her skin. “Of course we are.” She closed her eyes, picturing a different stone room, a different body close to hers. The prison cell in the Asyjgon cave, Alili tangled up against her, crying from a recent beating. She had lied then, too. “No, I won’t let him hurt you again.”
Rikky drew in a deep breath. She couldn’t see his face...but it almost sounded like he was trying not to cry. Fear squeezed her chest like a dragon’s claws. He kissed her hair, his hand on the back of her head. “I can’t lose you.”
Her throat was too constricted to whisper more reassuring lies. Rikky was the one person that wasn’t supposed to lose hope, and she was the last person who could help him regain it. There was nothing to say. So she tilted her chin up, found his lips with her thumb, and kissed him. It was long and desperate, she couldn’t breathe and her body was flaming but her skin was still cold, so cold. At length she ended it, brushing her finger across his cheek before she settled her head against his chest again. “Try to sleep.” She listened to his heartbeat, throbbing beneath her ear. It was fast, frightened...gradually it steadied.
Her own heart kept racing. She could feel it pounding against her ribs. The only movement, the only sign of life, in the cave that felt so empty. Loud and incessant. She wanted to ignore it, for it to fade from her consciousness, to let her sleep, as Rikky now did.
It kept beating. Her eyelids grew heavy and she closed them, only to open them again at the restlessness that gripped her, even as her limbs were paralyzed with exhaustion. The gnawing hollowness in her gut ached, clenching and squeezing, begging for sustenance. The beating of her heart became wild when one of the celiths moved. Blackness, void...she needed to see. The cave was closing in...threatening to crush her with every heartbeat. Thud, thud, thud, thud, thud...
“Hey, hey!”
Something jabbed into Talea’s arm. Her eyes flew open. Zoper was prodding her shoulder. “We have to go. Now.”
Rikky was already pulling her off his lap, though he looked just as groggy as she felt. “What...I thought—”
“Dogs.” Zoper hissed it through gritted teeth, as if it explained everything. Dogs? What in Kameon did that have to do with anything?
Still, Rikky was dragging her up with him, and she couldn’t get a question out of her mouth. Nor could her muscles find the strength for the sudden movement—her knees buckled. He set her back down. “Stay here.”
Where else was she going to go? Dogs…
Zoper and Rikky were putting the gear back on the celiths. The poor animals looked just as ragged as before their night’s sleep. It would take food, warmth, and weeks of rest for them—or their riders—to recover. Skyve was trying to help, but in his clumsiness, he was only in the way and soon gave up. Instead, he sat between her and Terindi. And to her astonishment, he put an arm around them both. Skyve wasn’t affectionate, especially not physically.
Talea tried to swallow the dryness that immobilized her tongue, looking at him. At his dark, bloodshot eyes...they were pained. “Skyve? I don’t understand...”
He took her hand. The glow the contact produced lit the cave a little, silhouetting Rikky and Zoper and the celiths as they scrambled about. “They have dogs. To track us.”
No. No...we can’t outrun them anymore. If they were close enough that Zoper had seen their dogs...it was over. And she didn’t feel a thing. She couldn’t. She felt the cold ache in her muscles, the throbbing in her skull, the numbness in her fingers, the painful hunger in her stomach. It didn’t leave room for anything else.
Skyve gave her hand a squeeze, closing his eyes. When Rikky and Zoper came back, he let go and got up, dragging himself onto his celith, ready to go—as if he hadn’t just silently agreed that yes, it was over.
But she knew better.
Zoper carried Terindi to her celith, and Rikky carried Talea to Ember. She was Aysa—she should have given instruction as to formation and direction. But she wasn’t Aysa, not anymore...not if it was over. So she hunched her shoulders in, wrapped her fingers around some of Ember’s mane, and didn’t bother. Rikky and Zoper could do it.
“You got the back?” That was Zoper.
“Yeah. Go.” Rikky’s answer.
Zoper at the head, they rode out of the cave. The inky blackness gave way to light. Snow blanketed everything. The tree trunks looked like scratches on a perfectly white canvas. Just before they sped to a canter and drowned out any other noise, she heard
dogs barking from somewhere behind them.
Ember’s long legs reached and pulled in stride after stride, but even through the saddle, Talea could feel the lethargy in her movements. It didn’t seem fair, really. What had their celiths done to deserve this misery? Ember wasn’t fated to lead the war. She didn’t have to be condemned like Talea was.
The dogs’ barking had faded away. That didn’t matter. The Kaydorians didn’t need hounds anymore. It was simply a matter of overtaking them.
She heard them, soon. Wingbeats. Zoper shouted a warning—useless. She angled Ember away from it—useless. It went to Skyve first. He jumped off, just before the dragon’s jaws closed on his celith. Its cry, a guttural, terrified sound, finally did it. Tears sprang to her eyes. She could hear the dragon’s wings...pumping, pumping, gliding…
“Talea!”
A tree cracked above her. Bits and pieces of wood showered down. Ember squealed. Talea ducked. Something hit Ember. The impact sent a shudder through her spine. Her teeth snapped together, tongue caught between, and she had a moment to wince at the pain, taste the blood...thud. Lights swirled about the blackness. When she opened her eyes, movement, and light, and two glowing yellow orbs above her. The cold snow, clinging to her body, draining the heat from her veins.
And the dragon’s head, descending toward her. Jaws open, a snarl in its throat, those glowing eyes locked on her.
Lightning flashed. The creature roared, twisting toward the source. Ember was scrambling away, managing to get her hooves beneath her and bolt. Talea grabbed a handful of snow, pushing herself into a sitting position. The dragon’s attention was still occupied. She pulled her feet in, pushed off with one arm, took a step—
She hit the ground hard, the snow stinging her cheek. A tremor of pain traveled from her calf, up her entire leg, making her clench her teeth on a scream.
